Perception is Reality

With the growth of e-business and large numbers of people engaging in online shopping, trust has been identified as a crucial topic in information systems and marketing research. Because online transactions are mostly anonymous and always computer-mediated, mutual trust is needed for their execution. A range of factors have been shown to influence trust formation in online transactions, both attributes of the buyer as well as the seller. This study analyses and differentiates between the impact of both perceived seller attributes (brand strength, perception of reciprocity, customer control and third party endorsements) and buyer attributes (age, gender, and web experience) on online trust based on a representative survey of the German online population. Our analysis reveals that seller attributes, as perceived by the buyer, have a stronger impact on online trust than buyer characteristics.